


Horrors Of The Cake Planet

by Madcinder



Series: Somewhere Far Beyond [2]
Category: Alien Series, Cthulhu Mythos - Fandom, Cthulhu Mythos - H. P. Lovecraft, Mahou Shoujo Madoka Magika | Puella Magi Madoka Magica
Genre: Alien Planet, Alternate Universe - Future, Elder God, F/M, Gen, Great Old Ones, Horror, Immortals in Space, Lovecraftian, Lovecraftian Monster(s), Outer Space, Post-Rebellion Story, Psychological Horror, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-17
Updated: 2017-02-26
Packaged: 2018-09-25 02:30:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 10
Words: 20,604
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9798497
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Madcinder/pseuds/Madcinder
Summary: Considering the size of the universe and the vastness of time, it is mathematically impossible that there would not be a perfect replica of each of us somewhere out there, eventually. Hitomi and Kyosuke Kamijo, along with a crew led by the dashing Captain Tyrone Douglas, find their intergalactic journey interrupted. They awake from their cryogenic sleep to find their ship in orbit around a strange new world somewhere in the expanse between galaxies. A world that houses something ancient and familiar. A world of death. A world of cake.





	1. Waking From Ice

Steam hissed out into the air as the locking pins pulled free. The cryo-pod opened, revealing a young man. Coughing as he stepped out, he wobbled on his feet and grabbed onto a nearby bulkhead. Another pod beside him opened as well, its occupant, a woman, collapsing onto the floor and throwing up on the metal grate. A few minutes passed as they recovered from their cryo-sleep.

Crawling up the side of her pod, the woman managed to push herself into a standing position. She took a few experimental steps before plodding along towards the door. She grabbed a dark green long-sleeved jumpsuit from a rack near the door and slipped her legs into it before turning back to the man, who was still trying to get his balance.

"Hurry up." Her voice was hoarse, and would be for a few hours. "You don't want to be caught with your pants down." She put her arms into the jumpsuit and headed out the door as she zipped it up, then ducked back in to take a look up and down the man's bare form. "Damn..."

Leaving the cryo-pod room, the woman left her jumpsuit unzipped only a few inches and headed immediately for the bridge. Two others had made it there before her and were checking the ship's systems. Without even a word, she stepped to the front view-port and gazed out into space. Stars speckled the blackness all around, except for one particularly interesting area right below her. A planet, swirling with bright pink and green clouds.

Glancing over her shoulder, the woman called to one of the crew. "Nakashima. Why did we stop?"

A middle-aged woman with her hair cut short answered promptly. "The ship's computer says we dropped out of FTL due to slowly building energy readings... unknown form of energy. We should investigate."

The woman shook her head. "Science missions are for science vessels. I chartered this flight. I say where it stops. We were supposed to be headed for Gailawa in the Arbidium galaxy for the Helium clouds. Why the fuck are we here? Where even _is_ here?"

The door opened and three more people, all wearing the same dark green jumpsuits, stepped onto the bridge. Two headed to their work stations, while the man from before joined the woman at the window. He crossed his arms. "So... what's going on?"

She shook her head. "I don't know. That's what we're trying to figure out. This bullshit is gonna fuck up our course and make everything harder." She called back to the crew. "Osakawa. Why are those clouds candy colors?"

A tired-looking man with a clean-shaven head blinked at the screens in front of him for a few moments before answering. "Because... they're candy-flavored. The atmosphere, according to sensors, tastes like strawberries and has high levels of... sugar vapor."

"Sugar vapor... what the fuck?" She turned to the man beside her. "Kyosuke, is he fucking with me?"

"What?" The man chuckled. "I don't think they'd joke around about something like that. Sugar vapor in the atmosphere is a very serious situation."

She sighed. "Damn it all. Akamiya, Ira, somebody give me an answer that isn't retarded, please!"

Kyosuke laughed. "I'm naming it Cake Planet until you come up with something better."

Akamiya, a young woman barely out of her teens with long light brown hair and sea green eyes, leaned forward to look at the readouts in front of her. "Wow... No, that's good. The surface is practically a giant cake. Several kilometers deep of nothing but cake. High temperatures from the core have baked it through, so we are really looking at a Cake Planet. We gotta record this. It's unprecedented."

"Is the air breathable?" A tall man with dark skin walked onto the bridge, tailed by a short blond woman. She wasn't really short, just looked like it next to him. The man stroked his large beard as he observed the planet below. "Well, I'll be. Pretty, ain't it, Miss Shizuki?"

Kyosuke looked back at the tall man. "I told you before, Captain. She's my wife, so you'll call her by her real name."

Sitting down in the chair at the center of the bridge, the man huffed. "Doesn't say Kamijou on the contract. It says Shizuki Company, which means Shizuki is in charge of the mission, and if there's no Shizuki, then I'm in charge because it's my ship and I'm the captain. Ya dig?"

Osakawa spoke up, still trying to shake off his sleep. "I say we go down there and dig. It's all made of cake."

The woman, Kyosuke Kamijou's wife, known professionally as Miss Shizuki, spun on her heel. "Captain Douglas, perform all the necessary scans on this rock and bring me a report. I will decide if it is worth staying longer. If not, then we shall continue on our way without a moment's delay. We have a job to do, and it isn't here."

The captain saluted casually. "Will do. Feel free to head on down to the mess. Hash and Brown are down there getting something ready for us to eat, and I'm sure they would let our benefactor sneak a few bites."

Heading off the bridge, she turned and pointed at Kyosuke. "Stay here. Make sure they don't leave anything out of the report. I want it full."

With a hearty laugh, the captain called Kyosuke over to him. "I thought she wanted out of here fast. Why's she asking to read a full, unabridged report on a planet survey?"

Kyosuke shrugged. "IQ 186. And she reads really fast. If we do find something cool, she'll be all over it."

* * *

Hitomi Kamijou, head of the Shizuki family name, sat alone at a table in the mess hall. There had been nobody around when she arrived, and she had quickly discovered the Hash and Brown she had been told about were, in fact, a joke. There was a machine in the middle of the room, and it was heating up some hash browns. She hadn't tasted the particular preparation before. Although it was surprisingly tasty for something with an ingredients list limited to only potatoes, she found herself in a foul mood. Her mind was preoccupied with the unnecessary stop and how much it might cost her.

Finishing off her third hash brown, she looked down at herself. Her body was covered in the dark green jumpsuit that contrasted with the bright soothing blue of the lighting and the dull middle grey of the bulkheads. She found her mind straying from time and money wasting and over to thoughts of time already passed. How long, she wondered, had they been traveling already? How old was she, technically?

She didn't have long to wait. Captain Tyrone Douglas waltzed into the mess, a cigar clamped in his mouth and his hand on a medium-sized datapad. He stopped across from her, putting one hand on his hip and holding out the datapad with the other. "Found out everything she's got hiding under that pretty dress. The old girl's got a few neat surprises too. You can read the whole thing if you like, but I'll just give you the highlights."

Hitomi accepted the datapad, beginning to read its contents while munching on a fourth hash brown. "Tell me." She could read and listen at the same time.

He sighed loudly, reaching up and straightening his mustache with his now-freed hand. "We're right on course, so anyone missing us would find the ship eventually. About forty-five percent of the way to Maykro, Arbidium's port world. Meaning we're twenty-seven years into our trip. Your company should have the Helium mining equipment almost set up by now and your favorite pop star back home is most likely a wrinkly old bag. The particular spot we're in, according to Nakashima, is a rogue globular cluster about three hundred thousand lightyears away from any charted thing with more mass than a tuba. The globular cluster itself _is_ charted, but only in that we know it's here and somebody's already attached their name to it. Some douche named Marlon. Too bad, though. I was looking forward to 'the Tyrone Cluster'."

Hitomi reached down for a fifth hash brown. "Amusing. And the planet?"

Douglas just chuckled. "Ah, yes... atmosphere is breathable, but has high concentration of pure fructose molecules. It's a sugar planet. One for the books. Really weird shit going on near the surface, stuff I ain't gonna bother remembering, and it results in a thick crust, if you can call it that, of nearly edible material almost identical to your grandma's chocolate cake. A little too high of a concentration of toxic chemicals means it's still a bad idea to stuff your face with the dirt. Nearly no heavy metals except in the core. That's why we noticed enigma number one."

Hitomi looked up. "Enigma?" Really, she was more interested in the implications of 'number one'.

He grinned. "A tiny little deposit of Gold, literally just sitting out in the open on the surface. Less than one or two grams. We'll be down to check it out shortly, and then it's on to enigma number two."

She realized he was going to make her ask. "And what's that?"

Straightening his posture, he cleared his throat. Suddenly, he had taken on a purely formal tone. Business. "It appears a large object of some sort impacted the planet surface, creating a crater over one hundred kilometers in diameter. We estimate the impact to be approximately nine billion years old. The object is still there and appears to have some vague structure to it. It's either alive or artificial. I'm betting on artificial, because it's not giving off any of the normal signs living things do."

Hitomi set the datapad down. "Well, fuck. I suppose we go down there then. Remind me, Captain, what our crew is."

"Hmm..." He seemed slightly caught off guard by the change in subject. "You and your husband are the passengers... Well, there's me, Nakashima, Osakawa, Ira, Akamiya, Akihara, and the boys down in the engine room. That would be Fukawa, Kagima, Tamahoshi, and my brother Rory. Yeah... yup. That about covers it. We have a hamster, too."

She kept her face impassive. "No Hash or Brown, then."

"Err... no, ma'am."

"Hmm. Let's try to keep things truthful around here." Standing up, she made to start walking away when he called her back.

"Ma'am? There is one other matter."

Hitomi turned back to face him. "You can't stop my husband from playing his violin, so don't even ask."

He shook his head. "Wouldn't dream of it, ma'am. No, it's about enigma three. There are five life-signs on the planet, and only five. They're a few klicks from our selected landing site, in the direction away from the impact crater. We'll be taking the rover, so we can cover the whole area relatively fast, but seeing as it's isolated life the way it is I thought it would be best if you, as mission commander, made the call. We can't lock what species they are, so there is a small risk of hostility."

Letting out a long sigh, Hitomi gave in. "We'll check it out first. That crash hasn't moved in nine billion years. It won't get up and leave in the day or so it takes us to get there."


	2. Sixteen Billion Years

Mami opened her eyes.

That was it. That was all she could do. Her entire body was so sore that she didn't dare move anything. If she felt this bad, she didn't want to know what she currently looked like. She decided it was better to focus herself on something else until her body felt better. She would have tried to get some sleep, but she was certain she'd just woken up. It wouldn't have been possible anyway, with a bright blue light shining in her face.

She tried to think back to what had just happened. No luck, though, as all that came to mind was Madoka. What that thought meant was hard to tell. More of her senses returned slowly, causing her to realize they had all been numbed up until then, and also causing her to notice a few peculiarities about her surroundings. It smelled like someone nearby had been baking cake and throwing fruit everywhere. There was also a distinct taste of candy, and the very air felt charged with sugar-induced energy.

A low gurgling sound, like a growling stomach, echoed around her. The sound was much larger than a Human, and her mind starting immediately thinking through various large animals it could be. She didn't like the results, which seemed to stick on dinosaurs and whales. What she saw pass by her line of sight only a few moments later was far worse than either.

It was long, like a giant bulbous snake moving through the air over her head. It had a large maw filled with razor sharp teeth, along with a pointy nose ending in a red tuft and two long feathery wings sticking off the side of its head. The body was black and speckled in red dots, while the face was white with two yellow patches on its cheeks and wild, crazy, multicolored eyes. The incredible visage sparked a flash of a memory.

Mami sat up with a start, shocks of pain running through her stiff body but being largely ignored. Remembering the creature she had just seen, she turned around to see where it had gone. She just caught the tail end as it wound its way around the side of a mountain. Looking to the ground around her, Mami nearly cried out in shock at the sight of two still forms laying on the ground near her. Stifling herself, not wanting to draw the clearly predatory beast back her way, she forced herself onto her hands and knees in order to crawl over to the nearest form.

Sayaka's familiar face was calm and quiet, but to Mami's great relief her friend was breathing shallowly. She shook Sayaka for a few seconds before moving on to the second form. The pink hair immediately identified her as Madoka. Mami shook her as well, hoping she could wake someone up. She didn't want to be alone with such a crazy-looking creature wandering about.

"Yo! Someone else woke up! Nagisa!"

Mami whirled at the sound of the voice. Kyoko stood several meters away, holding what looked to Mami like a big clump of chocolate cake dripping in chocolate glaze. By the state of her face, Mami judged that Kyoko had found a lot of food and taken part in it less sparingly than usual. It did some good for Mami's nerves to see someone she knew and trusted up and about, though. The mention of Nagisa gave her even more hope.

That hope vanished when the snake-creature appeared behind Kyoko. It gurgled as it drew nearer, brushing against the ground and right past Kyoko. It kept coming, freezing Mami in place with fear until they were face to face. Then it opened its mouth and...

Nagisa's voice echoed in Mami's mind. "I'm glad to see you're finally awake. I thought it would take much longer."

Mami couldn't move, awed, terrified, and sincerely dumbfounded. This monster was Nagisa. Cute, adorable little Nagisa. She'd grown up so fast.

Nagisa continued. "Kyoko woke up earlier this morning, and she's been stuffing her face ever since. After how long I waited before she woke up, I thought I would have to wait at least that long before anyone else woke up as well. But now you're awake, and that means Madoka and Sayaka will be awake soon too."

Mami finally managed to overcome all the strange feelings that were keeping her from moving. She remained bolted in place, but got out a few words. "How... long were you... waiting... alone?"

Kyoko chuckled. "Yeah, this will be the reaction of the century. Wish I had a camera."

Nagisa's massive face made itself into a frown. "The planet was all lava and smoke when I woke up. It changed over time. I think... I think it changed because of me."

Mami hadn't really taken in her surroundings yet. She glanced around, but things weren't really registering on her mind. Everything was still a bit fuzzy. "What did you change? How long have I- how long have we been asleep?"

Nagisa made a face that Mami knew meant she was embarrassed that she had been overthinking it. "I can't tell how long the days here are, because it's not our planet or our sun. The sun is blue, so we're somewhere out in space. But assuming the day and night cycle is the same length as on Earth, you were all asleep for... five thousand eight hundred and nineteen billion days."

Mami was speechless. She had to have heard wrong.

Nagisa tried to make light of it by smiling. "I didn't want to sound annoying by saying the exact number, so I rounded to the nearest billion."

Kyoko sighed. "Yeah... she says she counted. Nothing better to do around here. But that's the long and the short of it. We've been sleeping, with Bebe as our guardian protector, for billions of years. I wasn't able to do the math, but I'm pretty sure that's billions of years. I'm right, right?"

Mami slowly sat herself down, afraid she'd keel over. "Y-yeah... that's right. About... um... more than ten billion. I... I don't know..." And then she started to cry. 'My God... what happened to us? That long, it's... unthinkable. My... my... my b... sh-sh-sh..."

Kyoko dropped her blob of cake and rushed to Mami's side. "Are you okay? Mami, what's wrong?"

Mami had broken down near completely, crying into her hands. "My baby... Charlotte... she's gone. She's gone. My little girl is gone."

Nagisa's voice was calm and comforting, though it did little good for Mami. "We're not. We're still here with you, Mami. We're not gone."

"She's right, you know. The universe is infinite, and we shall traverse the entire great expanse. But we shall always be together." The three of them looked up to see Madoka had awoken. She smiled gently. "And in infinity, familiarity will always be found somewhere."

Kyoko jumped up. "Hey! Now we just have to wait for Sayaka! Oh, uh..." She reached down and grabbed a hand full of the ground, offering it to Madoka. "Hungry? It tastes like chocolate cake."

Madoka's entire outward appearance changed and she blocked the sight of it with her hands. "Oh, no! That's gross, Kyoko! It's dirt!"

Kyoko was incredulous. "No it's not! It's chocolate cake!"

Nagisa interrupted. "I told you. Just cause it tastes like chocolate cake doesn't mean it is chocolate cake."

Sayaka's voice stopped them all. "Damn it all, can you guys keep it down? I'm trying to sleep."

Dropping the dirt cake, Kyoko rushed over and sat on top of Sayaka. "You've slept ten billion years. It's time to wake up."

Sayaka's eyes shot open. "Ten billi- fucking what?!" She shot up, quickly taking stock of her surroundings. "There's no way I... I'd never sleep in that long! What's going on? Why..." She took a good long look at the others, then dropped her gaze to herself. "You guys... it's been a while, so... I think our clothes disintegrated."

Turning bright red, like she hadn't noticed before, Madoka quickly covered herself. Nagisa nudged Mami to try and get her to move, but the fact that she remained curled up into herself told that she'd also noticed. Kyoko didn't seem to mind. Sayaka sighed and stood up, quickly covering herself as well. She looked around a bit more.

"I heard Nagisa... where is she?"

The giant beast opened its mouth, but the voice was in their heads. "I'm right here."

Sayaka jumped back. "Woah, geez! The hell happened!? Madoka, what's going o-" Memories hit her like a tidal wave. "Madoka!" Forgetting herself, she stormed over to her friend and grabbed her shoulders, shaking her. "What have you done!? What did you do to Nagisa?! Why are we all naked!? Why does everything smell like strawberries?!" She paused for a second, staring in shock at something behind Madoka before shouting one last question. "And why the fuck is Kyoko eating the world!?"

Nagisa's focus shifted suddenly, alerting all of them in an instant. "I hear something... nothing lives on this planet but us and... no, it's different."

Sayaka and Madoka stopped their struggle. Mami looked up. Kyoko nearly dropped her food. Four voices spoke in unison. "Nothing but us and what?"

* * *

Captain Tyrone Douglas peered through his binoculars. He liked what he saw very much. He also didn't like what he didn't see. Regardless, he allowed himself a smug grin. "They're Human, from the looks of it. Women, and four of 'em. Not old ladies, but they're certainly not underage. My expert analysis is thirties, but handled aging well. Blonde twin-drills on one. Another has blue hair. The other two... maybe pink and red hair, it looks like."

A voice called him over the radio. "What color are their eyes?"

The Captain made a face. "Now how am I supposed to know that?" He shook his head. "Alright, Miss Shizuki. You wanna have a look?"

Hitomi appeared beside him on the ridge. "Give them here."

Handing the binoculars over, the Captain turned to the rest of the party. "Osakawa, Akihara, have you found that gold yet?"

All the members of the away team were wearing breather masks, obscuring their faces, but the clean-shaven head and short blonde hair gave the two away. The were scouring the ground for the trace amounts of gold the scanners had picked up. Akihara looked up at him. "We've got the location down to within a few meters. I don't think it's under the surface either."

Hitomi's gasp drew the Captain's attention away. "See anything that you like, Miss?"

Osakawa called over, reaching down and picking something tiny up off the ground. "I found something!" He held it up, wiping it off with his finger. "It... it's a locket."

Hitomi shoved the binoculars into the Captain's hands and stormed over to Osakawa. "Give it here."

"Wha...?"

"I said give it here!"

He reluctantly handed it over. "O-okay then."

Hitomi opened the locket, seeing what was inside. "No... this is all wrong."

It was a small photo, showing three young teenage girls wearing the same school uniform. A short, pink-haired girl with red ribbons. A grinning blunette with a yellow hair clip. And a serene girl with green hair.

"How can this be here? How can... _they_ be here?"

* * *

" ** _Wake up now. You have visitors._** "

Saldor's voice reached deep into the massive, ancient ship. Something stirred, raising its head. Coiling around itself, it hissed at the thought of intruders. Such welcome intruders indeed.


	3. So Far Beyond

The Captain climbed onto the side of the rover, calling in to the unmasked woman inside. "Akamiya, you picking anything interesting up?"

Akamiya nodded. "Yes, sir. Four of the life forms are grouped together ahead of us. I can't get a good lock on species, but that might be just atmospheric interference. Also, the fifth one isn't far off, but it's a hell of a lot bigger. Sensors show it around sixty feet long, and the shape makes it look like a whale or a worm of some kind. It's on the other side of that mountain for now, but we should book it if the thing starts heading our way."

Douglas grimaced. "Okay. Let's not try to piss it off regardless." He turned back to the rest. "Okay, we're gonna see about picking up some chicks." The only other man in the party looked to the two women on either side of him. He seemed to think better of acting enthusiastic about the order. Douglas decided to rephrase his statement. "Miss Shizuki, do you mind taking Akamiya in the rover to get those ladies, maybe get some clothes for them? I'll leave Fukawa and Akihara here to keep an eye from a distance. See if you can get them back to the ship. Me and Osakawa will start walking to that other big thing. Radio us when you get back."

Hitomi nodded. "That's better." She walked over to the rover and jumped up onto it, hanging on just beside the window canopy. "Let's go. You got extra clothes in there with you, Akamiya?"

The reply was uncertain. "Uhh... yeah, but only two changes of clothes. What exactly are we heading for here?"

Hitomi grinned. "Humans. Women. Naked. Let's go."

"A-and there's four of them?"

"Yes." Hitomi nodded, almost as if she didn't see the problem. "Four of them. Will they not fit in the rover?"

Akamiya shook her head. "Oh, no ma'am. They'll fit, but..."

Hitomi was nonplussed. "Why do you think the men are taking a walk? Let's go already."

Shaking off whatever nervousness she had, Akamiya complied quietly. Hitomi still latched onto the side, the rover rolled forward over the awkward terrain.

* * *

Sayaka sat uncomfortably naked on what she had initially presumed to be a rock, but had later found to in fact be some sort of hard candy. Madoka sat nearby on the chocolate cake ground while Kyoko managed to still be eating. Mami had been coaxed into finding a better position than curled up in the middle of the clearing they had all awoken in.

Madoka was explaining what had happened to them. "I put us all in our altered forms for the travel because in that state we have much different minds built with an incredibly dense structure for information storing. Our Human minds are technically dormant while these other forms, which are still essentially us, are encapsulated in the cocoon-like pods. When we landed here, they faded and our Human bodies would have remained exposed if I hadn't set it up that Nagisa would remain in her other form. A Human mind cannot store billions of years of information, regardless how repetitive it might be, but this... this Witch form has that capability. So when Nagisa transforms back to her Human form she won't remember this place."

Speaking with her mouth full, Kyoko began further inquiry. "So you had Nagisa guard the rest of us like that for, what was it, like sixteen billion years?"

Madoka nodded. "It was necessary. Otherwise we'd be vulnerable. The different Witch forms will, over that long a period of time, obviously alter the environment to more suit them. Nagisa's Witch form makes sweets. Most notably cake and cheese."

Sayaka interrupted, redirecting the subject. "So, my questions. First, why did we leave Earth to begin with?"

Madoka blinked. "That's, uh... I don't really know. I heard something calling me, and I couldn't ignore it. I had to go. See, Gretchen agrees that there must have been some past life or something of the sort where I became her, you became Oktavia, Kyoko became Ophelia, Mami became Candeloro, and Nagisa became... well... anyway, we don't remember this life, and neither do the Witches. The Witches, by the way, were always part of us, as there are similar beings in every living thing, I believe, but are almost always dormant or otherwise repressed. So something that does remember this past life, or alternate life, called me. It awoke Gretchen and she was simply too powerful. The planet was breaking apart from her power. Venus was obliterated. The same would have happened to Earth if I had stayed."

Sayaka nodded. "Okay, good choice leaving. Why'd you bring us?"

Sighing, Madoka looked away. "I felt you could help me, and you had the Witch forms... I made a snap decision. And it's a long journey. I needed the company."

"Fair enough. Now, how far have we traveled, and why did we stop here?"

Madoka glanced back to Sayaka, surprised. "Why did we... would you rather stop in the middle of space? No, I was powering the flight with my own energy, Sayaka. That isn't limitless. It's simple. I ran out of power and needed to rest. This planet was as good as any, and wasn't in danger of being destroyed. The sixteen billion years was how much time I needed to recuperate, and you were all asleep so you wouldn't be stuck wandering around this place for that long. I timed it all down to the hour, as far as power concerns go. In about forty-five minutes, we can be on our way."

Kyoko, who had otherwise disappeared from the conversation, poked her head out of the ground between them. "Hey, so, why do we have to wait another forty-five minutes?"

Madoka smiled. "What fun is a journey without some rest time to talk and look around?"

Sayaka snapped her fingers to get Madoka's attention back. "So how far did we travel so far?"

The pink-haired woman shrugged idly. "Well, like I said, I can't keep it up forever. We were going at light speed, because you just can't go faster, and we were going for... well, a hundred billion years."

That number hit them all like a bomb.

Kyoko retreated back into her hole. "So that means..."

Mami finally spoke. "That means we're farther away from Earth than the diameter of the known universe."

Sayaka shook her head. "Wait, wouldn't that mean we've pretty much gone into another universe or something like that?"

Madoka jumped up, quickly pointing an accusing finger at Sayaka. "You never listened to those lectures I recorded for you! If you had, you'd know that it does not work like that! Kyoko! Explain this simple concept to Sayaka!"

Kyoko popped back up and turned to look at Sayaka from her hole, while Madoka turned away and waited for whenever an apology would be coming. Kyoko sighed. "It's like this, Sayaka. The universe is infinite. There's only so much we can see, but it goes on forever in every direction. Now, whether or not there is matter occupying space forever in every direction is a different... matter. Obviously, as we've discovered, matter is present quite a ways away. There are other universes, but contrary to popular method of conveying that message through picture, universes are not some bubble-like structure with a barrier edge you can reach simply by going in one direction for a long time, with some space between exiting one and entering another. There is no space between universes. They are separated on a different level that is only partially comprehensible to Human beings."

Sayaka put her foot on Kyoko's head and pushed her down into the hole. "I'm not taking a lecture from a Diglett." She turned to Madoka. "Sorry. I did watch them, but I'm not very good at keeping that kind of thing sorted out. So... why are we going so far?"

Madoka turned back to her friend. "Easy. We need to get out of this universe."

Sayaka frowned. "Then wouldn't we need to go, like, through a portal or something? I thought you said we can't get out of the universe by going in one direction."

"Well..." Madoka shrugged. "The Human race doesn't have the technology to travel between universes. In fact, that's a long ways away. And like I said, we couldn't stay there for long. So if the universe is infinite, which it is, then everything we can imagine is somewhere within its confines. Meaning somewhere, someone has found a way to travel to another universe. Our objective is to search until we find it. If we keep going, we'll find it eventually."

Sayaka stared blankly at her friend for several moments before shaking her head violently. "There's something critically flawed in that plan, I just know it."

Kyoko hauled herself out of her hole, quickly taking refuge behind a chocolaty rock. "I hear a car, guys."

Dropping their discussion, Madoka and Sayaka ducked behind the rock as well. Mami had already been tucked away somewhere safe. Now, over a soft and spongy ridge, something akin to a rover like one would expect to find on a mining asteroid or a moon rolled into view and stopped. Its big wheels and strong suspension allowed it to easily maneuver the soft ground, and now gripped the ridge at odd angles. Through a bulbous front window, they could see a woman driving it. For everything they could see, she was perfectly Human. Madoka peered out from behind the rock, curious to see who had found them. A woman, roughly their own age, stepped up beside the rover. She removed the mask covering her face and called down to them.

"Madoka! Sayaka! Is that you?"

The two whose names had been called looked at each other in shock and chorused together. "Hitomi?"

Kyoko groaned. "Great."

Sayaka shot a glare at Kyoko, then quietly stood up and stepped out. "Hitomi, is that you?"

Hitomi smiled and began trotting down the slope to meet her friend. "How the hell did you guys get here?"

Sayaka shrugged. "Madoka wanted to travel. We brought Kyoko and Mami along for the ride." Hitomi stopped in front of Sayaka, unable to see those hiding behind the rock. Sayaka observed that her friend had something tucked under her arm. "Is that for us? You shouldn't have."

Hitomi held out the bundle of clothes. "Only two sets of clothes, unfortunately. Weren't expecting you to be naked, let alone familiar."

Sayaka accepted the gift, separating the sets and handing one down to Madoka. She reserved the second one. "I think Mami needs this more than I do."

From out of sight, Kyoko interrupted them. "So, uh, yeah. What am I supposed to do? Prance around like I'm at a naturist resort?"

"Shut up, Kyoko." Sayaka put her hands on her hips. "So, Hitomi. How'd you know it was us?"

Hitomi held out her hand, letting the locket hang from its chain. "Our ship picked up traces of gold that led us to this. There's only one other place on this planet's surface with metal, so it couldn't be natural. The picture inside the locket is one I remember taking with you two."

Stepping out from her hiding place, Madoka punctuated dressing herself by zipping up the front of the jumpsuit. She held out her hand for the locket, which Hitomi handed her carefully. Madoka opened it and inspected the image. "It's so... old. But it's just a photograph. The picture is printed on paper. There's no way it could have survived"

Akamiya knocked on the window, drawing Hitomi's attention. She gave a few hand signs, telling her to put on her radio. Once Hitomi had the radio in place, she gave the worker a thumbs up. "What do you got?"

Akamiya's voice was frantic in her ear. "Message from the Captain. Patching him through right now."

Douglas' voice came over the radio. He sounded spooked. " _We got here a lot faster than we expected. It's definitely a ship, and we're inside now. Unfortunately, I think we need to be leaving quickly. We got in through a door that was open when we arrived. No such opening was picked up by the scanners. There were also fresh tracks leading away. Something was inside, locked in tight, and left between the time we landed and the time we finished our stroll here. What's more, there are... really gross remains. Several years old. Between twenty and thirty years. Two bodies, highly decomposed, wearing standard mining expedition uniforms and carrying emergency survival gear. This place entombed them, which is why they're not dry bones yet, but there is... missing pieces. Ma'am, these bodies have been eaten._ "


	4. Pandora's Box

"Get done quickly. The atmosphere isn't toxic, but if you inhale too much sugar air you will definitely die." Ira called down the ramp at Kagima and Tamahoshi as they scurried about outside the ship. The two mechanics were trying to locate the source of a problem they found with the ramp. It wouldn't close, and that meant they couldn't leave the planet. Ira didn't like that.

Outside, Kagima called Tamahoshi over to something he'd found. "Yeah, this is probably it. This piston is all gummed up. Some slimy shit. Gonna need something pretty strong to remove this."

Tamahoshi reached in and stuck his gloved fingers into the strange substance covering the piston. "This is too small, don't you think? If it were some mechanical issue it would have gotten all over some other stuff. Environmental hazard would be even more widespread. This is..." The slime stuck to his glove as he pulled away, stretching and clinging to the metal. He decided not to smell it.

Kagima ran around to the front of the ramp and called up. "Ira! We're gonna need some good cleaner to get this shit off. It's just a minor problem, but it's really sticky." He waited for several seconds with no reply before calling up again. "Hey! We're gonna be trapped on this cake hole if we don't clean this up! Get Rory down here!"

* * *

Captain Douglas looked out the hole in the side of the crashed enigma. It was a ship. That much he was certain of. Ancient and massive, but its purpose eluded him. The presence of Human remains confused him even more. The whole thing spooked him, so he preferred to get out of dodge as quickly as he could. He turned and looked back into the dark ship. "Osakawa! You takin' a whiz or something?"

There was no response.

"Yo! What are you doing? I want to head back to the ship now! You can't just stay here!" Nothing. "Osakawa?"

He heard a sound, something small moving low along the ground. It wasn't Osakawa.

* * *

Mami looked down at herself, only half pleased with having clothes. The shirt was too tight for her. Akamiya had found a pair of blankets that Kyoko and Sayaka were using to keep covered. They had loaded into the back of the rover, a tight fit, and were headed back to a ship that Hitomi had brought with her. It seemed to Mami to be a little too convenient, but convenience was something she had learned to accept. The rover was quiet. Hitomi was driving, with three others walking along outside. Madoka sat crammed in beside Hitomi, staring endlessly at the locket she'd been given. Sayaka and Kyoko were both just waiting for someone else to speak.

Hitomi finally broke the silence, reaching forward and tapping a panel on the control console. "Captain, are you trying to contact me?" She frowned when no response came. "Fucking useless machine. I swear, it has intelligence and it just does it for shits and giggles."

Madoka let out a long breath, then looked up at the others. She then looked up to Hitomi. "This isn't mine."

Hitomi blinked, confused. "What? What, the locket?"

Madoka nodded. "My locket couldn't have possibly survived this well for this long. It looks old, aged, but not old enough."

Hitomi smiled. "Ah, don't worry. I got it figured out. Your ship probably crash-landed softly, and oxymoron, I know, but it was soft enough that the cryo-sleep systems kept working. You've been asleep since you left, which by this point is almost fifty years. You wouldn't have taken that into the pod with you, so-"

Sayaka cut her off. "That's not how we got here."

Hitomi glanced back at her. "I'm sorry? What do you mean?"

Madoka held the locket up for Hitomi to see. "This belonged to the Madoka you remember. But I couldn't be her just as much as you couldn't be the Hitomi I remember. You said we got here in a ship, and that it probably crashed. If that's the case, then whatever you used to determine there was only one other source of metal on the planet's surface should have picked it up. But what you picked up wasn't any ship we came in."

Hitomi took a deep breath, thinking it over. The only other metal on the planet was not their ship. It was some ancient crash billions of years old. "Then... then how did the locket get here?"

Mami jumped up. "A mystery!"

Sayaka grabbed her arm and pulled her down. "Out of your league."

Madoka laughed. "No, let her try."

Looking around, Hitomi got the feeling that there was something she was missing. "What's going on."

Mami cleared her throat, standing again. She wobbled a bit, but braced herself against the sides of the rover. "I know how to solve mysteries. I'm a private eye!"

Hitomi shook her head. "The hell you are."

"I'm serious." Mami straightened up as much as she could in the cramped rover. "Okay, let me do this. The first thing we need to do is take a step back. Most mysteries that seem hard to solve are only so because the view you get of them is too narrow. Taking a step back allows you to see a few things. So... the question is how this locket got here. First, there are some things Hitomi needs to understand. We are not the people you remember, nor are we truly anyone you ever knew. We left Earth, if my math is correct, over one hundred and sixteen billion years ago. We were in a form of stasis, I guess you could say, until only a matter of minutes ago."

Madoka looked over to Hitomi, explaining with a bit more detail. "We were in, uh... well, we didn't have a ship. We were in a biologically crafted mobile stasis field, traveling at light speed for around a hundred billion years. We landed here and remained in stasis for another sixteen billion."

Mami continued. "You should be familiar with the theory that the universe is infinite, therefore considering the amount of matter in the universe it is unlikely that there isn't an exact copy of each of us somewhere out there. Adding in the endless expanse of time, it becomes a certainty that there are multiples of you that have existed and will someday exist. Now with that in mind, it is still an extreme coincidence that an exact replica of someone we know, who also knew exact replicas of us, is the person to greet us when we wake up. Regardless, it happened. So the answer is that if Madoka did bring her locket with us, it would have long broken down and disintegrated. That cannot be her locket."

Sayaka prodded Mami's leg. "Alright, so how is it here with a picture of Madoka, Hitomi, and me."

Mami smacked Sayaka's finger away from her leg. "That... with a little evidence, can be answered. Hitomi, the Madoka you knew. What happened to her?"

After a long sigh, Hitomi answered. "Madoka... with Sayaka, Kyoko, Mami, and a crew of five others, left twenty years ahead of my ship. They were to arrive ahead of us and start work before we got there. We were supposed to be collecting Helium in the Arbidium galaxy. They'd have been working for twenty years when I arrived, and would have caught up to the twenty years I aged before following them. Unfortunately, their ship went off course. It never got within a million lightyears of the seventy-ninth beacon, and never corrected its course after that. Seventeen years into their journey, they were declared missing."

"Then their ship is here. We just have to find it." They all looked at Mami. She shrugged. "No other way this locket could have gotten here." She smiled knowingly. "I propose a theory. Sometime after, I presume, the seventy-eighth beacon, they went far off course. I can only guess what exactly these beacons are, but judging by how you referred to them I think my guess is pretty close. Regardless, they ended up here. Landing briefly, they went to investigate something..."

Hitomi looked like a light went on over her head. "The ship. There's an ancient ship crashed on the surface of this planet. Nine billion years old. It was sealed when we scanned it, but the Captain found it open. ...There were Human remains inside, between twenty and thirty years old. I'm guessing closer to twenty. They'd been eaten by something. Standard mining expedition uniforms, like Madoka's team would have been wearing. Two bodies, with emergency survival gear."

Mami nodded. "Because that's when your friends would have been here. The remains may not be your friends. I think they got into that ship, something attacked them. It had probably been in stasis or something similar. It killed two, which we have to assume were two of the other crew members, and sent the rest fleeing back to their ship. In the rush to escape, Madoka dropped her locket. They took off in their ship and fled the planet."

"Or not." Hitomi flicked a switch on the console in front of her. "Nakashima, are you there?"

" _Read you loud and clear. What can I do for you?_ "

Hitomi glanced back at Mami, then down to Madoka. "I have a bad feeling about this." She returned to the radio. "Nakashima, can you run a sensor sweep directed towards the planet's high orbit? I'm looking for a ship. Large. Helium miner. The type with a minimal crew. Particularly anything that's just floating there."

After a few moments of silence, Nakashima came back. " _That's odd. It was on the other side of the planet. Just floating there like you said. How'd you know it'd be there?_ "

"Fuck!" Hitomi growled as she switched frequencies, calling to the three walking alongside the rover. "Akamiya, Akihara, Fukawa, grab on! We're flooring it!" She waited barely five seconds before changing gear and pushing the rover to its full speed. The bumps and hills were more pronounced at this frantic speed, but Hitomi managed to keep her hands steady as they flew across the console, switching frequencies again. "Captain! Get out of that ship! We're getting off this planet as soon as everyone's aboard!"

Captain Douglas' voice came back instantly. " _I'm with you on that one. I'm on my way back. Osakawa's... well, he's in bad shape._ "

Nakashima called in next, having caught on to the desperation of the situation. " _Kagima and Tamahoshi are cleaning a foreign gelatinous substance from some of the ramp's components. We can't take off until they're done, but that should be fixed up before you get back._ "

Hitomi grimaced. "Captain, we're gonna swing by and pick you up."

" _Don't bother. I can already see the ship._ "

"Well then I intend to beat you inside."

* * *

The ship drifted alone in orbit, cold and silent as a grave. Gravity had shut off. The lights had died. Only its own momentum kept it up. A corpse, old and decayed, floated in the cargo bay, its position totally static. A few meters from it, a stasis pod lay open. Eight other pods lined the walls of the bay, three on the back and on each side. Apart from the one left open, five were empty. The three at the back were occupied, two rotted corpses on the left and right.

The middle pod contained a young woman, her chest slowly rising and falling with each breath. Her face obscured by the creature clinging to it, spindly legs wrapped around her head and long tentacle-like tail wrapped around her throat.


	5. Epimetheus

Everyone had made it back to the ship safely. Osakawa was in the medical bay, having apparently collapsed into unconsciousness. Captain Douglas had brought back with him a story of strange spider-like creatures with long whip-like tails. One had attacked him, and gotten stomped for its trouble. Another, dead and stiff, had been near Osakawa when the Captain had found him. However, he seemed to be fine now.

The ship had blasted its way off of the planet as soon as they could leave, and were now approaching the mystery ship floating in orbit.

Hitomi gazed out the front view port. "I was right. It's the _Epimetheus_. Our sister ship."

Douglas stood beside her, arms folded across his chest. "I don't like this, but we have to go in. Check on them. At least find out what happened."

Hitomi nodded. "You and me will go aboard with Madoka and Mami. I'll go get them. You make sure we're attached properly, then join us at the airlock." She turned and looked across the bridge. "Kyosuke, you're in charge while we're over there."

She quickly left the bridge, heading down to the cargo hold where Madoka and the others were still in the rover. Akamiya had brought some more clothes for Kyoko and Sayaka, so they were considered decent, but Hitomi had claimed that it was best for them to remain quarantined in case they had carried any diseases with them. Really, she just didn't want to be there when Sayaka found out that Hitomi was married to Kyosuke.

Climbing up the side of the rover, she opened the hatch on the top and leaned in. "Alright, quarantine is over. We're docking with the _Epimetheus_. I want Madoka and Mami to come over with us. Sayaka and Kyoko I want on the bridge keeping tabs on us."

Sayaka climbed out first, sliding down the front of the rover and landing hard on the metal grated floor. The others followed, only they climbed down the normal way. Hitomi led them out of the cargo bay and into a long corridor, pointing Sayaka and Kyoko towards the bridge before continuing to lead the other two down the the airlock. There she found that she had to physically put Mami's pressure suit on. Madoka seemed to be able to figure it out on her own, but Mami was clueless. Captain Douglas stood by, waiting patiently the whole time.

Sealing her helmet, Madoka turned to Hitomi. "Why do we need these?"

Douglas answered for her. "The ship we're going to has no atmosphere. No oxygen and no gravity, as well as minimal power. The crew could have survived in stasis... well, seven of them, anyway."

Hitomi fastened the belt around Mami's waist. "Okay, hold your hands out at your sides."

Mami did as she was told, blushing. "This is really embarrassing."

Hitomi sighed. "Just stop moving. All you need now is your helmet." Picking up the large clear dome, Hitomi sealed it over Mami's head and went about quickly putting her own suit on. "Everyone, check your radios. Make sure you're hooked up properly."

Douglas went first, simply speaking into his helmet. "This is Black Leader. Do you copy?"

Sayaka's voice came back. " _Black Leader, we copy._ "

Kyoko butted in immediately after. " _Black Leader? What kind of name is that?_ "

Fitting her helmet on, Hitomi went next. "Green Leader here. Check."

Sayaka, who had probably shoved Kyoko away from the console, responded again. " _We read you, Green Leader._ "

Mami looked to Hitomi, her face hopeful. "Yellow Leader?"

Hitomi shook her head and pointed at the Captain. "Black Two."

"Oh..." Mami cleared her throat. "Uh... Black Two?"

" _You only wish you were black, Mami. I told you. You can't rap._ "

" _Kyoko, shut up. Go watch the cameras. Black Two, we read you._ "

Madoka quickly gave Hitomi a thumbs up. "Green Two here. Do you read me? This is Green Two. Can you hear me? Can you hear me? I said, can you hear me? Do you read me? This is Green Two."

" _Someone slap her. Madoka, we fuckin' hear you. Now shut up. Black Team, Green Team, you are go for boarding. Head into the airlock for depressurization._ "

The door opened and the four of them moved into the airlock. It sealed behind them, and a slow hiss signaled the depressurization. Once it finished, the door ahead of them opened to reveal a dark hallway. They stepped in, lights on their helmets illuminating the derelict ship.

Hitomi pointed down the corridor to the left. "Madoka and me will head this way and check out the bridge. Captain, you and Mami check the cargo hold. See if anyone's still in the stasis pods."

* * *

Sayaka sat on the bridge of the _Prometheus_ , staring at the camera feeds in front of her. Kyoko, beside her, was more focused on fiddling with the headset she was wearing. Sayaka glanced up, looking across the bridge at Kyosuke. He hadn't said a word to her since she arrived on the bridge, instead just standing and staring out the window at the bridge of the ship beside them. Behind them, she knew Akamiya and Nakashima were monitoring their instruments and listening for anything from the team on the _Epimetheus_.

Kyoko finally figured out a way to hold the headset on without being uncomfortable or simply having them fall off her head. She returned attention to the camera feeds, then quickly tapped Sayaka on the shoulder. "Hey, what does that light mean?" She pointed to a red light blinking beneath Mami's feed.

Sayaka squinted at the light, then looked down at the manual in her lap. "That's... I think that means her radio is off."

Kyoko frowned. "Why would her radio be off?"

Sayaka groaned. "She's an idiot. That's why." She grabbed her mic and held it closer to her mouth. "Black Two, do you read me? Mami? Black Leader, Mami's radio is out."

Kyoko reached over and poked another light. A red light under the Captain's feed. "His is out too."

"The hell?" She looked at Madoka and Hitomi's feeds. Their lights were green. "Green Team, be advised we've lost radio contact with Black Team. Check your radios."

" _Green Leader here. Nothing wrong with our radios. We're almost at the bridge. We'll wave._ "

Kyoko looked over at Kyosuke. "So that's what he's waiting for."

Sayaka slammed the manual closed and shoved it into Kyoko's arms, leaning onto the console and growling as she buried her head in her arms. "Why the hell would they turn off their radios?"

* * *

Tyrone stopped in front of the wide door to the cargo bay. He had pulled their radios and attached their suits in a way that they could actually speak to each other directly. Mami had protested for only a moment before she realized what he was doing. He turned to face her. "I heard your explanation of what happened over the radio. You explained it pretty well, and I believe you."

Mami gave a slight smile. "Hitomi had the radio on?"

He nodded. "Guess so. Look, when you all left Earth... did you leave a family behind?"

Mami nodded, looking down. It was something she was trying to avoid dwelling on. "My daughter."

He looked surprised. "Daughter? What's her name?"

"Charlotte. We both started using my maiden name after my husband died."

He gave a sad sigh. "I'm sorry. But, Charlotte... I like that name. It's good. So, uh... your husband. What happened to him?"

"Lung cancer, actually." She swallowed hard. "Uh... it hit him out of nowhere. Charlotte was two."

The Captain seemed stricken for a moment, but quickly shook it off. "Ouch. Glad I quit three years ago. Well... thirty, counting years in stasis. Ever since this ship was officially declared missing. I couldn't... My wife was on this ship."

Mami, who had taken a moment to look up at the door in front of them, slowly turned down to look back at him. "...I know."

After a few moments of silence, Tyrone turned back to the door. "Alright, let's get this thing open." He reached over to a control panel on the wall beside the door, tapping in a key code. The door obediently lifted out of the way without much complaint. He grinned. "Everything went better than expected. Maybe she's still alive, you know?"

Mami watched the room before them slowly reveal itself. "I... I think you shouldn't get your hopes up."

A rotted skeletal corpse lay on the floor in the middle of the cargo bay, frozen stiff from exposure to cold space. On the far end, they could see three stasis pods that were closed and cold, the glass frosted over. Two of them were dark.

Tyrone let out a long sigh. "One. This ship is a tomb. There's only one left."

They made their way slowly to the body in the middle of the room and knelt down beside it, rolling it over. Mami wiped years of dust and grime off of the name tag. "...Douglas."

He shook his head. "I guess... I guess I knew. The moment the ship was declared missing, I knew she was gone, but... There's always hope, right? Well... usually... until now. But... well, at least I can still say goodbye. The way I should have."

She smiled. "That's a good idea. But first we should check these pods, right?"

"Yeah..." He stood up, prompting her to do the same. "Let me hook the radios back up first."

* * *

Kyoko pointed at the Captain's feed. "There. Is he fixing it?"

Sayaka sat up straight. "Oh, uh... looks like it." They both turned their eyes to the red light under Mami's feed. Sure enough, it suddenly turned green.

Kyoko pounced on the mic. "AAARGH! IT'S GOT ME! HEEEEEeeeeelllp..."

Sayaka slapped her away. "Sorry about that. Kyoko needs to go get fucked. Mami, do you read?"

" _Hi guys. I would like to apologize for turning off our radios, but we had something to discuss privately._ "

Sayaka grimaced. "Right. Well, next time, wait to do it on your own time. You freaked us out."

" _Right. Won't happen again._ "

Douglas's voice came next. " _What did we miss?_ "

Sayaka glanced over to Kyoko, who subsequently flinched. "Uh... yeah, Green Team made it to the bridge. Hitomi and Kyosuke waved at each other. They found the navigator and radio operator. That was... Arakawa and Momoe."

" _Nagisa? Why didn't Hitomi mention her?_ "

Hitomi answered directly. " _I didn't know it was relevant._ "

Sayaka continued. "They're searching through the rest of the ship. We can see the pods you have are occupied. Who's in them?"

Kyoko and Sayaka watched carefully as Mami approached one of the dark pods. She reached up and wiped the frost from the glass, revealing a shriveled old corpse.

" _The name tag says... Kyono._ "

They turned their attention to Douglas' feed at the other dark pod.

He read the name tag out loud as soon as he could make it out. " _Sakura._ "

Kyoko quickly got up and stepped away from the console. Powerless to help, Sayaka watched with concern. "Hey. You okay?"

Kyoko briefly looked back. "I..." She shook her head. "I'll be fine. Just... I'm gonna go get something to eat."

Sayaka watched her go. She wasn't used to being actually concerned for Kyoko. Her friend was normally carefree and happy-go-lucky. She would have to check up on Kyoko later, but right now she knew she had to focus on coordinating the teams. "Alright..." She grabbed the mic. "Who's in the middle one?"

" _Sayaka?_ " It was Madoka.

"Give me a second, Madoka. Mami, check the middle pod."

Douglas wiped frost from the middle pod, and the light from inside filled the cargo bay. Inside the pod, illuminated by the backing lights, was a woman in a mining expedition uniform. She wasn't anyone Sayaka knew or recognized, but somehow the long black hair seemed strangely familiar.

She mused to herself, looking over the very alive features of the stranger. "Who is..."

Madoka interrupted her train of thought. " _Sayaka, I really think you should see this._ "

Impatiently, she chided her friend. "I said just a second."

Hitomi cut in. " _Sayaka, we found Kaname. It's a mess._ "

Her attention suddenly drawn away from the stasis pods, Sayaka looked over Hitomi and Madoka's feeds. "What? What do you mean?"

Hitomi turned to a table in the middle of the room they were in. " _We're in the medical bay. Madoka was here when she... well, like I said. It's a mess. Just look at this._ " She moved closer, giving Sayaka a good view. A good view she really didn't want. " _The rib cage is obliterated, like something burst out of her chest. It was a painful death, that's for sure._ "

Sayaka bowed her head. It hurt just thinking about it. "And that accounts for the entire crew. That means... that means I was the first one to die, down on the planet in that ship."

On the screens in front of her, Madoka turned to face Hitomi so Sayaka could see her. " _So... then who's in the stasis pods?_ "

Hitomi explained. " _Kyoko, Tomoya and... Well, wait... where's..._ "

Sayaka answered the question Hitomi was having trouble asking. "Black Team found a Douglas on the floor of the cargo bay. I saw the name tag when Mami leaned in to read it."

" _Oh._ " Madoka suddenly looked aghast. " _Oh..._ "

Captain Douglas finally read off the name tag of the last remaining survivor of the _Epimetheus_. " _It's Akemi. Homura's still alive._ "


	6. Resurrection

"Homura Akemi." Hitomi stood beside the door to the medical room. Two small beds were set up, one with the unconscious Osakawa and the other with the rescued Homura. Kyoko, Sayaka, and Madoka stood around the room, paying close attention to Hitomi's words. "We were an inseparable group in high school. Madoka, Sayaka, Homura, Kyoko, and myself. We were the five Musketeers."

Madoka interrupted. "There were only three Musketeers."

Sayaka corrected her. "Well, four if you count D'Artagnan."

Kyoko raised her hand. "Hi, uh, what are Musketeers?"

Sayaka answered confidently. "They were a unit of the royal guard in France for several hundred years."

"So why were there only three?"

Sayaka was speechless, unable to answer that.

Hitomi picked up the slack. "You see, the point is, we were nigh inseparable. Homura was our friend. We grew up together, all of us. I mean... well, if you know me and Nagisa and Kyosuke, frankly I don't see how you wouldn't know Homura. She was always there."

Kyoko shrugged it off. "I never seen her before."

Sayaka nodded. "Same here. She's... oddly familiar, but I guess a distinctive look like that does that."

Madoka let out a long sigh before speaking up. "Actually... I think I remember her. I don't know where from, and I know I never met her. At least in this life."

The others were silent, just blinking at her in confusion. Kyoko raised her hand. "What do you mean 'this life'?" Sayaka shook her head rapidly. Kyoko put her hand down again. "Nevermind."

Hitomi cut back in. "But we just proved that there are multiple of you, didn't we?"

"I don't think that's quite what I mean." Madoka shook her head. "No, the version of me that you knew was just someone generated by random chance in the universe. We were identical in every way, but we were not the same person." She looked over Homura's peaceful form, her chest slowly rising and falling. "Same body, different soul. What I'm talking about is a different body and the same soul. Reincarnation. You understand?"

Hitomi sighed, shaking her head. "See... the Madoka I knew would never have bought into something like that. She loved the mystery and the wonder in the universe around her, and was always thinking of what might be, but she never believed anything until she saw it."

The atmosphere of the room changed, and Madoka quickly straightened herself out. "That was a contradictory statement. She would never have believed anything she didn't see, but she would never have believed this... regardless? I think you misjudge what she would and would not believe. After all, how is it you know I did not see it?"

Hitomi looked cornered. "Madoka, I-"

Cutting her off, Madoka turned away and changed the subject. "This girl, Homura. ...Is she going to wake up soon? Do you think it would be wise for her to see us all? Considering she may have already witnessed us dying, it may be traumatic, or perhaps it would cause her to believe it was all just a dream and she'd never really awoken from stasis until just now. So, do Kyoko, Mami, Sayaka, and myself make ourselves absent for her waking, or do we make ourselves the only ones present?"

"Doesn't matter now." Kyoko observed, as Homura's eyes slowly opened.

They all held their breath as Homura lifted her head, her eyes darting around the room. They finally fixed on Madoka. "You're... alive... Madoka, you're alive!" She jumped out of bed and immediately collapsed to the floor, her legs unable to support her. Homura landed face down at Madoka's feet, slapped the grated floor in anger, then stopped. She looked up from her low vantage point and weakly reached out and grabbed Madoka's leg. "You came back for me..."

Surprising both Madoka and Hitomi, Sayaka reached down and hauled Homura up, supporting her. Homura wobbled for a few moments before turning to look at Sayaka. The blunette smiled. "What are you talking about? We never left you."

Homura reached up and brushed her hand against Sayaka's face. "I saw you... I saw you all die. I thought I was alone."

Sayaka shook her head. "There was a malfunction. We couldn't get you out of your pod until Hitomi's ship got here." Madoka and Hitomi exchanged glances, realizing what Sayaka was doing. Kyoko shifted her weight and leaned back against the wall, still trying to work it out. Sayaka continued. "The malfunction probably caused you to have nightmares. We never died."

Taking a few gasping breaths, still trying to return her breathing to normal after the initial shock, Homura turned her head to look around the room. "You're not... dead?"

Kyoko patted herself down, as if looking for holes. "Don't think I am." She looked up and grinned at Homura. "That's right, kiddo. It was all a dream. I had a dream too. There was a horse. What was in yours?"

Homura shook her head, then seemed to focus on thinking of an answer. "There was... cake. Cake everywhere."

Kyoko stood up straight. "Dear God, the woman's been traumatized. Homu, that sounds awful."

Hitomi sighed. "Well, you're okay now. We're gonna take care of you. We're a little behind schedule, but we can get by without you for now. You need to rest here for a bit."

Homura nodded. "Rest... alright." She blinked a few times, then looked around the room. "Where's Mami?"

* * *

It was different, but still the same somehow. Mami never could have imagined feeling this way again. It was so warm. She took another sip of the coffee.

Tyrone smiled. "It's been too long since I seen that."

Mami blushed. "Seen what?"

He shrugged, then leaned in closer. "That face you make when you just had a good cup. It's exactly the way I remember."

Mami held up the cup. "The ingredients are different, but the way you make it is the same. It has the same flavor of your touch."

He casually reached up and stuffed a hash brown in his mouth. They were sitting in the otherwise empty mess hall, enjoying the quiet and each other's company. Mami was beginning to feel, being here now, that she might not want to continue the journey with Madoka. Her journey, she thought, had ended here. To her, the chains of death had been undone. Here, in the middle of the endless and suffocating void of space, her miracle had happened.

* * *

The heavy thrumming of the engine filled the room. Fukawa leaned back against the control console, breathing heavily. She looked down at her side, the red on her hand, then covered it up again quickly. It hurt bad, but didn't look life-threatening. Either way, she knew she had to get up to the sickbay. She also had to report the damage, which she grumbled to herself about. Tamahoshi was supposed to be on duty now, but he was nowhere to be seen. It was due to his neglect that Fukawa had been present when a pressure valve popped, sending the seal flying and hitting her. It had punctured her side, but near as she could tell there was no serious damage.

Pushing herself up, Fukawa stumbled her way to the door and out of the engine room. It was against her better judgement to leave it without supervision, but she had fixed the problem before tending to herself. That delay may have put her at more risk, so she found it wise to see herself fixed next.

Tamahoshi had never left the engine room. He lay under the floor grates, a bloody and torn mess, a black mass coiling around his corpse and listening to everything in the ship.

* * *

Sayaka and Kyoko walked onto the bridge. Kyosuke turned from looking out the front view port upon hearing them enter. Akamiya and Nakashima were also present, seated at their stations and keeping an eye on the space around the ship. Sayaka made her way over to the communication station, sitting down and picking up a headset. She put it on and started fiddling with the instruments in front of her. Kyoko found the captain's chair and made herself at home there instead.

Kyosuke stepped away from the window, walking over to Sayaka and sitting beside her. He tapped her shoulder, surprising her, and gently pulled the headset away from her ear. "What are you looking for? We're alone out here."

Sayaka sighed. "Just occupying myself, that's all. What's with this dial?" She pointed at a large round thing on the station, unfamiliar numbers marked around it.

He looked it over for a moment before explaining. "Hyper- and sub-sub-frequencies. Sometimes signals can get distorted by a black hole or a supernova, to the point where normal instruments can't pick them up. It's an emergency kind of thing. I don't expect to find anything."

She nodded, taking it in. "Is it directional? Like, do you have to point the antenna to pick something up?"

"Yes, which makes it even less of a thing we can use." He shrugged. "If you want to play with it, go ahead."

As soon as he'd said it, she grabbed the dial and started turning it down. Over her headset, she could hear a constant buzzing getting lower and lower until it just disappeared entirely. She stopped and pulled the headset down around her neck, turning to Kyosuke. "If it picks anything up, it'll adjust it so I can hear, right?"

"Yeah..." Kyosuke narrowed his eyes at her. "Are you looking for something in particular?"

Sayaka shook her head. "No... just exploring. This far out, you never know what you'll find."

"Oh, well, in that case..." He grabbed the dial and turned it down as low as it could go. He grinned. "Maybe we'll hear something if we turn the antenna some."

She waited for him to put his own headset on and start working the antenna's directional controls. She had to lean back when, suddenly, he leaned across in front of her. She felt her face turn red even as the headset crackled to life. It was being close to him again, the boy she had wanted for so long. Hitomi had won here just like she had won at home, on the Earth Sayaka remembered. Among the static, Sayaka realized that she wanted one more chance.

" _Madoka._ "

Inside the static of the stars, one word echoed through the void and found its way to Sayaka's ears. _Madoka_. She looked over to Kyosuke, and the look on his face told her he had heard it as well.

" _Madoka!_ "

Kyosuke pulled his headset off and flipped a switch on the console. When the voice came again, it echoed through the bridge.

" _Madoka! Stay away!_ "

Kyoko sat up. "That voice. It's..."

" _Madoka, that creature is trying to trick you!_ "

Sayaka slowly put her headset down. "Creature...? That's Homura's voice. How is it... out there?"

Nakashima called over. "Computer says the signal's origin is coming from... halfway between us and Arbidium."

Kyoko stood up. "Someone show me a picture of the galaxy you came from."

Nakashima looked up in surprise. "What? Um, okay, I got it over here."

Sayaka and Kyosuke watched in confusion as Kyoko rushed over and inspected the galaxy. They exchanged an odd glance before Kyoko cried out in victory.

"It's Abel! L Abel... numbers! We're behind Abel... about six billion lightyears behind Abel! This is the place Madoka was so interested in!"

Kyosuke got up and headed for the door. "Alright, I'll go get Madoka and Hitomi. I should probably tell the Captain to come up here as well." He looked back to Sayaka as he opened the door. "Guess exploring is worth it, eh?"

Something long, black, and spiny speared through Kyosuke's chest. He choked and collapsed.


	7. Aliens

In the cold of space, a small rusty-colored planetoid drifted closer to the warped planet and the two ships orbiting it. As it moved nearer, a strange melody echoed in the void. The free-wandering mass began to sing.

**Wernglshal kluu'thukunn brorvlnkr'shkeknfrawln trrgazdr-**

_**GHROTH.** _

The smaller planetoid stopped emitting sound, and even stopped moving altogether. Then it opened its eye, a massive hideous red eye that glared down at the planet. No feelings of any sort came from the immense being, except for those of feeling the presence before it and feeling the gaze set on it. It knew whose gaze it felt.

**The Servant of the King. You speak to me.**

**_STAY YOUR SONG. SHE WILL AWAKEN IN HER OWN TIME. FOR NOW, I ALLOW HER TO PLAY THAT SHE YET RETAINS HUMANITY. THROUGH THIS, SHE SHALL BE STRIPPED AND RID OF IT, BECOMING THE FEASTING MASS I WANT BEFORE I CRUSH HER._ **

**Your word, Servant of the King.**

_**ALL HAIL SALDOR, SERVANT OF THE KING.** _

Ghroth, the Harbinger of awakening of all things ancient and mad, closed his eye.

**All hail the Servant of the King.**

Nearby, on a comparatively small helium-mining ship, Madoka stopped in the hallway and shuddered. "Did you guys feel that?"

Hitomi glanced around momentarily, but didn't stop walking. "Feel what?"

Madoka glanced between Homura, who they were taking to the mess hall, and Hitomi. "I don't know. I just feel like... something is wrong." Seeing that they didn't quite get her meaning, she shook her head. "Never mind. Let's just go meet Mami and get something to eat." She did want to find Mami, but for a different reason. She knew something was wrong, and Mami would understand Madoka's sense of foreboding. And she needed to make sure her friends were all right.

* * *

Sayaka screamed in anguish and rage, immediately charging at the monstrous black creature that came through the door. Over the sound of her own voice, she could barely hear Akamiya and Nakashima screaming. The beast wrenched its ridged prehensile tail from Kyosuke's body and turned to face her, but both were to be disappointed. Kyoko crashed across the room, flying across in front of Sayaka and cutting her off. Kyoko added her own voice to the screams and the creature's vile hisses, a war cry as she practically flew with her momentum, running along the wall and tackling the creature into the bulkhead.

Sayaka had been forced to slow down, but now she had a chance to better approach the situation. She ducked in, grabbing Kyosuke and dragging him away from the melee that was unfolding. Only a few meters away, Kyoko grappled with a monster easily two feet taller than her, and it looked like it was hunched over. Its claws wrapped around her arms and began to dig in, tearing the sleeve and drawing blood. Its tail whipped around her, lashing at her back and leaving only shreds of her shirt behind. Through it all, she held the creature against the wall.

"Sayaka! Get down!"

Acting on instinct, Sayaka threw herself over Kyosuke, protecting and shielding his body with her own. At the same time, Kyoko, who had shouted the order, grabbed the creature's shoulder and what she perceived to be its throat and threw it across the bridge. Tumbling through the air, it crashed onto the metal deck and slammed into the large transparent view port at the front. Quickly righting itself the creature thrashed its spiny tail about, waving the long knife-like tip in Kyoko's direction.

Akamiya and Nakashima rushed for the door. Kyoko caught Akamiya's arm, stopping her. "If that window were compromised, there's some kind of shield that would come down, right?"

Trying to get Kyoko's hand off of her, Akamiya barely managed to catch the question. "Wha- uh, yes! It cuts off the entire front section of the bridge. Let me-"

Kyoko spotted the line on the floor where the emergency wall would come up from. She also saw a control console on the other side of it. "Stay here."

Before Sayaka or the others could even think to try and stop her, Kyoko bolted across the bridge. The creature charged as well, its toothy maw gaping open as it screeched. Kyoko leaped off the floor, landing on the back of the captain's chair and coming to an instant halt. Her foe kept coming, leaping into the air to tackle her to the floor. Leaning forward, Kyoko pushed off of the chair and headbutted the monster in the chest, knocking it out of the air. Both fell back down and were up again right away. The pointed tail darted in to impale her. Kyoko snapped her wrist down and caught it, pulling it around behind her and wrapping it around her waist. She clamped her other hand further along its tail and pulled the beast in toward her, kicking it away again with all her strength.

The tail broke off in her hand, and the monster flew back into the window. The transparent material, though much stronger than glass, cracked under the impact. Kyoko ripped the tail apart in her hands, throwing the pieces down at the feet of the creature that was now regaining its footing. She stopped momentarily, seeing the blood dripping from the shredded tail eating into the metal plating beneath it.

Growling, she noticed the burning sensation coming from her own clothes. The acidic blood began to eat into the skin on her legs and arms. Breathing heavily, she pointed her finger accusingly at the beast before her. "You and I aren't through! But-" She turned on her heel and dashed across to the console, smashing her fist into its screen and grabbing a handful of wiring. She hadn't planned out how to do this, nor had she known she could do it until the moment came. It was almost purely instinctual. Raw power channeled through her body into the console, jolting the computer core and shocking it into obeying her will. Electricity flew from the console, scorching her now-bare arms and setting her hair on fire.

The emergency door slammed shut, closing her and her foe off from the rest of the ship.

She turned back to face it, head wreathed in flames that were consuming her hair. The electricity ran through her body, stimulating her muscles and causing them to involuntarily tense. "YOU'RE GONNA PAY!"

* * *

Sayaka stood up, all but forgetting about Kyosuke. "Kyoko!"

A monotone computerized voice came over the ship-wide speakers. _"Warning! Complete depressurization of the forward bridge! Warning! Complete depressurization of the forward bridge!"_

"KYOKO!"

* * *

Madoka had just arrived in the mess hall with Hitomi and Homura, where they found Captain Douglas talking with Mami, when the alarm went off. They had all heard the announcement.

Tyrone stood up and rushed to a control panel next to the door. "Computer! Shipboard life signs! Now!"

_"Seventeen life signs on board."_

The captain pointed across the room. "Someone check the hamster cage!"

Mami got up and ran to the other side of the mess hall where she found a small, pudgy ball of fluff obliviously chewing away at the side of an almond. She shook her head. "Tiberius is fine."

Tyrone turned back to the panel. "Computer! Rollcall! Now!"

_"Captain Tyrone Douglas, mess hall, alive. Naomi Akamiya, bridge, alive. Kagomi Akihara, sick bay, alive. Chie Nakashima, bridge, alive. Mio Fukawa, sick bay, alive. Daichi Kagima, engineering, alive. Rorland Douglas, engineering, alive. Hitomi Shizuki, mess hall, alive. Homura Akemi, mess hall, alive. Satoshi Osakawa, sick bay, comatose. Kenichi Ira, cargo hold, deceased. Kousaka Tamahoshi, engineering, deceased. Kyosuke Kamijou, bridge, deceased."_

Madoka practically had to catch Hitomi to keep her from collapsing to the floor.

_"Alert! Unidentified life forms on board! Three in mess hall! One on bridge! One in sick bay! One in engineering! Three unreadable! Two in mess hall! One on bridge! Three unknown xenomorphic life forms! One, larva, mess hall! One, larva, sick bay! One, adult, engineering!"_

Madoka looked up from where she had set Hitomi down at one of the tables. "Xenomorphic?"

_"And one hamster, mess hall, alive."_

Mami held up her hand. "Wait a second. Madoka, would the ship's scanners likely not recognize us?"

Tyrone answered first. "I guess not, but then-"

Mami finished for him. "There's only three?"

Homura cut in. "Why wouldn't the ship recognize you? It should, shouldn't it?"

Shaking her head, Madoka diverted the subject to something for more pressing. "It said xenomorphic. And there's a larva here in the mess hall?"

Homura shrugged. "What's a larva?"

The door opened and Akihara entered the mess with Fukawa on her heels. "Captain, what's going on? We heard that the bridge depressurized? Is anyone hurt?"

"Is anyone hurt!?" Hitomi stood up, shouting over everyone else and silencing them. "People are dead! My husband is dead! There are _monsters_ on the ship!"

A shrill scream echoed through the ship, setting all of them on edge. Homura jumped at the sound. "What the hell was that?"

Tyrone mashed the keys on the control panel. "Computer! Ship-wide speakers! Track and announce all life forms on board!"

_"Confirmed."_

He turned and kicked in a bulkhead beside the panel, pulled the metal plating out and tossed it aside, then reached in and pulled out a pair of pistols. He handed one to Fukawa. "We're headed to engineering. Front or back?"

Fukawa hefted the weapon and grimaced. "Back."

Akihara cut in. "Sir, she's injured."

Ignoring her, he stepped out into the hall. "Sick bay, first. We need a few e-tags."

As the captain had commanded, the ship's computer announced a change the moment it was detected. _"Alien xenomorph adult has exited engineering."_

Gritting his teeth, the captain looked back at the group still waiting in the mess hall. "Alright, I'm in front. Mami is right behind me. Kaname, Akemi, stay in the middle with Miss Shizuki. Akihara brings up the rear with Fukawa acting rear guard."

Akihara, Hitomi, and Homura all had their individual complaints that he totally ignored. Mami took up her position, and Madoka pulled Homura and Hitomi along with her. Fukawa nudged Akihara into complying as well, and the group began moving.

_"Alien xenomorph larva has exited mess hall. Two unreadable life forms have left mess hall."_

Hitomi raised her voice. "Captain, it's following us. Where the hell is it?"

Fukawa called from the back. "I can't see anything behind us."

Madoka glanced behind her. "What if it's under the floor?" She stopped. "Akihara, get down."

Instead of doing as she was told, the woman spun to look behind her. Having silently dropped from the ceiling, a hideous black monster now stood hunched between her and Fukawa. It wrapped its large clawed hands around her head, holding her in place. Its toothy maw opened and a smaller tongue-like appendage tipped with another mouth shot out, punching through her head and splattering Madoka with blood. It dropped her and pounced after Madoka. Behind it, Fukawa raised her gun and fired three shots into its dark exoskeleton. Spurts of greenish liquid came from the spots where she hit it, and the monster growled in pain. It turned to her, leaving Madoka.

Fukawa backpedaled, turned, and ran the other direction. The alien launched after her, tearing through the halls and carelessly ripping up the floor plating as it went.

_"Kagomi Akihara, deceased."_

Hitomi grabbed Madoka's arm. "Come on, we have to get out of here!"

The five of them barreled down the halls as fast as their feet could carry them, making their way down to the sick bay. Nearly skidding to a halt, Tyrone stopped in front of the door, opened it, and rushed in. Mami stood just outside, watching as he tore the room apart around the still-comatose Osakawa. Homura, Hitomi, and Madoka stopped behind her.

"What is he doing?" Homura peered it, then looked back at Mami. "Has he gone crazy?"

Hitomi grabbed Homura and pulled her away. "You saw that thing too! That's what we're up against! He's looking for the larva, because I hope to God that what we saw was the adult!"

Madoka shoved them apart and stepped into the sick bay. "Can I get a towel?"


	8. Predators

Madoka was busy wiping Akihara's blood off her face, looking into the small mirror in sick bay. Hitomi and Homura stood just outside in the corridor, quietly and nervously keeping watch down the hallway in either direction. Tyrone was doing something in the far corner, next to the comatose Osakawa. He had explained something about e-tags, which were electronic implants for tracking and identification. Madoka had opted out, but Mami was willing to accept it.

For a moment, Madoka felt dizzy. She braced herself against the counter in front of her. "Damn it... I need a drink."

Homura peered in from the hall. "Madoka, are you alright?"

She shook her head. "Something just feels... off. Feel like I should have stayed asleep today."

Homura frowned. "I know how you feel. My stomach has been upset all day. I suppose it could just be from sitting in cryo for so long, but-" Gunshots cut her off, bullets ricocheting down the hall around her. She ducked into the sick bay, then poked her head out to see who was shooting at them.

Hitomi stepped in, shoving Homura back. "Get the fuck out of the way!" She smacked the control panel on the wall, closing the door just as more shots bounced off the door frame. She turned to the rest of the room. "Captain, that's one of yours shooting at us. Semi-automatic. They've been to the armory, so it can't be Fukawa or the ones on the bridge."

Tyrone tossed his pistol over to Hitomi, who caught it deftly. He nodded. "Make sure they know who they're shooting at and bring them in here. We can use that weapon. And please try not to hurt them. Shoot only if they leave you no choice."

Hitomi rolled her eyes. She opened the door and took cover just outside the hall. She leaned forward a little and called out to whoever was out there. "Hey! Rory, is that you? Your brother is in here! If you're not Rory, fire off a few shots!" Right on cue, a spray of shots ricocheted around the hall near her. She immediately pulled back. "Whoever it is, they know we're here and they're still shooting." She shook her head. "Fire again if you're okay with us shooting back!" The response was the same.

Tyrone called over to her. "Hey, don't shoot to kill. Still one of my people."

"Sure." She stepped out and aimed down the hall, firing off a warning shot. The assailant stood up at fired off several rounds before Hitomi squeezed the trigger again, the shot taking them in the shoulder and dropping them on their back. Hitomi quickly patted herself down. She let out a quick laugh. "They all missed me."

A shot hit her leg from behind as another gun opened fire somewhere down the hall in the opposite direction. She fell over onto the wall and aimed behind her, firing off three quick shots. They all hit, and the second attacker collapsed onto the floor. She lowered the pistol and let out her breath.

The computer sputtered to life. _"Dai- -gima, de- -sed."_

Hitomi glanced over to the first attacker. "That looks like Akamiya. What's she doing down here?"

Homura jumped out into the hall and wrapped her arm around Hitomi, hauling her back into sick bay. She looked to Tyrone. "The computer is on the fritz already. We have to assume the tracking doesn't work anymore."

From out in the hall, they heard Akamiya feverishly murmuring. "Don't look outside. I can't see it... it can't see me... it saw me... Don't look outside."

Madoka groaned. "Great, what's she going on about?"

Homura set Hitomi down against the bulkhead and waved to Madoka. "We can't leave her out there, especially not with a gun we could really use right about now."

Madoka shrugged and followed Homura out into the hall. She grabbed Homura's shoulder and turned her around. "I'll get Akamiya, you get the other gun."

"Right." Homura nodded. "Yes. Okay."

Madoka watched Homura take a few steps in the other direction before moving over to Akamiya's side. She knelt down beside the wounded woman, grabbing the gun away from her. She leaned in close, cautiously addressing her. "Are you alright down there?"

Akamiya groaned quietly. "It hurts... it saw me... it hurts..."

Madoka sighed. "Of course it hurts. You were shot. Now quit complaining. We have to get you back to th-"

Akamiya exploded, showering Madoka in blood.

* * *

Sayaka swung as hard as she could, aiming straight for whatever was coming through the hatch onto the bridge. A young, dark-skinned man duck under the flying fist and raised his hands in defense. Sayaka stopped, realizing she was dealing with a Human. They both took a moment to catch their breath. A woman limped in behind the man, and then door closed.

Behind Sayaka, Nakashima cried out. "Fukawa! You're here!"

The man held his hand out to Sayaka. "We never got to meet. I'm Rorland." Before she could act on the offered hand, he held out a long rifle. "Can you use one of these?"

She took the weapon. "Yes. Why?"

Fukawa hoisted her own weapon. "I'm sure you heard the overhead. The captain must have ordered the ship's computer to do that, and from it we know that there are a number of alien lifeforms on the ship. We've already figured that the computer can't recognize you and your friends at all, but it identified xenomorphic lifeforms. There are three, from what we heard."

Sayaka grimaced. "Three... one of them got in here. It killed Kyosuke and..."

Nakashima finished. "It was in the forward section with Kyoko when it was sealed off and depressurized. And then Akamiya ran off on her own!"

Fukawa turned and aimed at the door she had come through. "Great. One of those things was chasing me. I don't know if I lost it or what, but we can't let our guard down." She shook her head. "And, uh... no. Sorry. There's still three. The depressurization came before the xenomorph warning. Either that thing held on tight or there _were_ four."

Sayaka started to inspect her gun. "Yeah... I think we can take them."

Rorland grinned. "I'm for it."

Fukawa nodded. "Okay, are you sure we can hold out?"

Looking down the sights to test the weapon's aim, Sayaka corrected her. "That's not what we're doing. We're hunting those things down. They're going to pay for what they've done."

Nakashima waved her hands, shaking her head. "No way! No fucking way! We can't fight three more of those things!"

"Never underestimate..." Sayaka opened the door out into the corridor. "...a pissed off Miki."

A minute later, they were walking through the halls. Sayaka had point, with Rorland's rifle aiming over her shoulder. Fukawa was at the back, still limping behind the rest. Nakashima was in the middle, though against her will. She had resisted going out, but didn't want to stay behind all alone either. At every intersection, Sayaka and Rorland stopped the procession and cleared the corridors they would not be using before continuing on.

At one stop, Fukawa made an observation. "You know, Nakashima, Akihara was in the middle position when she died. It's not exactly any safer."

"Don't talk to me."

Sayaka started, then immediately stopped, causing everyone behind her to bump into each other. She looked down the corridor ahead of them, then at the door on her right. "Where does this go?"

Rorland nodded. "That's engineering. Fukawa's station."

"What's that noise?" Before anyone else could say anything, Sayaka answered her own question. "Oh, must be the engines. With that incessant mindless throbbing I thought someone was playing Muse."

"What?"

Sayaka rolled her eyes. "You don't know what Muse is. Why couldn't I have been born in your time?" She shook it off and opened the door. "Well, maybe there's someone in-" She stopped cold, her eyes fixing on the huge black creature climbing down the side of the reactor core. She couldn't tell if it was the same one that killed Kyosuke, the one Kyoko took with her, but it was definitely the same species. Rage suddenly flared within her, and she raised her rifle at the monster. "THERE IT IS!"

There wasn't any time for anyone to stop her.

* * *

Madness, in high enough concentrations, can have a physical presence. It has mass. When there is enough of it, it can warp things. Warp minds, space, time, and matter. The closer Ghroth drifted to the _Prometheus_ and the _Epimetheus_ , the more of their hulls twisted and changed, breaking and falling into decay. Anyone who chanced a look outside and saw the colossal form drawing near would have surely had their minds and even their bodies dreadfully effected.

The ship still wasn't damaged enough to fall out of the sky, though. At least, until someone shot a hole in the reactor core on the _Prometheus_. One by one, the engines cut out and the lights went dark. All systems began failing. Computerized emergency protocols, programs most protected from damage, managed to cut into place and begin closing blast doors across the ship. Madoka and Homura found themselves stuck just outside the sick bay, with Mami, Hitomi, and Captain Douglas trapped inside with Osakawa.

Madoka pounded on the blast door with her fists. "Damn it! I need a towel!"

Homura ducked into the corner, bracing herself. "Don't panic, Madoka. We're going to be fine. The emergency measures are in place, so we have nothing to worry about."

"I'm covered in blood, Homura. I need a towel. A shower too, if it isn't too much trouble." She fixed Homura with a blank stare. As familiar as she seemed, Madoka was very quickly learning that Homura probably wasn't someone she genuinely enjoyed being around. "You need to pull yourself together."

Homura shook her head, ducking into a corner. "No, no, this is just like my nightmares. We're all going to die again! Don't you get it, this is exactly what happened!"

Looking back at Homura from inspecting the outline of the door, Madoka rolled her eyes. "Don't be ridiculous. There were no black people in your dream."

"Madoka..." Homura braced herself against the wall. "The ship's hull is heating up. It's an uncontrolled atmospheric entry. We're going down. Hold on to something."

Madoka grimaced, looking down at the exploded remains on the floor. "She's probably gonna go flying all over the place. This is gonna be great, I can tell." She braced herself in front of the door without bothering to sit. "Did the ship crash in your dream?"

* * *

Nagisa had initially thought it weird, living as this giant Witch form. Of course, she'd gotten quite used to it over the countless years, but it never truly ceased to be interesting to float around in the air. It was something she never got tired of, and she meant _never_.

She knew the others had gotten on a ship and went up into orbit, and she was just waiting for them to come back and get her. Then they would all continue on their journey together. She looked up at the sky to see if they were returning yet.

Something was coming down, and coming down fast. Whatever it was, it was burning up on reentry and only picking up speed. She'd seen more than a couple meteors hit, but this one looked different. It was tumbling strangely, almost as if it was made up of two separate entities both fighting for control. It certainly wasn't a ship, so her curiosity got the better of her and she headed to where she estimated it would land.


	9. Requiem

"Woe to you, o earth and sea, for the devil sends the beast with wrath, because he knows that his time is short."

**_YOUR WORDS ARE MEANINGLESS, SPECK!_ **

"You can't truly believe that, or you're a fool."

**_THEN TELL ME NOW WHAT THE OMNIPOTENT SERVANT OF THE KING MIGHT LEARN FROM THE DUST._ **

"You send this beast against us now, and I can feel it. This is a move of fear on your part. You wouldn't have done this if you didn't sense that your end was coming."

**_SILENCE! YOU ARE NOTHING! YOU ARE THE OFFSPRING OF VAIN WORDS AND HYPOCRITICAL ACTIONS! YOU ARE A CHILD OF WEAK FAITH INTERTWINED WITH ABSENT GODS! NO WORDS YOU CAN IMAGINE COULD BROACH THE MAGNITUDE OF MY BEING!_ **

Kyoko opened her eyes, burning with fire and trailing light behind her as she fell through the atmosphere of the cake planet. The black creature writhed in her hands, trying desperately to tear her apart with its huge claws. Its mouth snapped at her, ripping into her shoulders, but the wounds caught fire and healed in the flame. Still, her focus was on the otherworldly voice that had broken into her mind to taunt her.

**_I CANNOT BE DEFEATED! I WILL NEVER BE BROUGHT LOW! ALL THIS UNIVERSE AND MORE IS UNDER MY DOMAIN! TEN THOUSAND TO THE TRILLIONTH POWER SUPERNOVAS GO UNNOTICED BY THE INSECTS THAT FLIT ABOUT THE MOTES AT MY FEET AS IF THEY WERE GODS! I AM SALDOR!_ **

"Then send your beasts. Send them and watch them fall."

The alien was crushed and vaporized moments from hitting the ground, a stream of brilliant energy obliterating its atoms. Rising from the smoldering crater, Ophelia raised her spear over the flames that made up her head. Her steed reared up on its hind legs, stamping at the air, its black mane flowing from its neck. Her free hand ran along the fringe of her dress before moving up to meet the other on the shaft of the spear, bringing the massive weapon down against the ground and lighting it all on fire.

"Send your beasts if you dare!"

Charlotte approached slowly. "Ophelia? That was quite the entrance."

Relaxing her shoulders, Ophelia looked up to the sky. "The others are coming now..."

Charlotte followed her fellow Witch's gaze.

The sky erupted in flames, the mass of the two sister ships burning up as they began to reenter the atmosphere. The steel hulls buckled and glowed as they were battered with immense friction and heat. The frame warped and twisted as the two ships broke apart. _Epimetheus_ spiraled away, exploding and scattering across the sky. It's pieces fell to the ground, most burning away long before they ever reached the surface. _Prometheus_ continued straight on its course, taking the fall at a much better angle.

Charlotte looked back to Ophelia. "It's coming this way. Should we move?"

Ophelia's flame died down, an expression of some sort that Charlotte didn't understand. She could guess pretty well from what Ophelia said. "Yeah, I think we should."

Charlotte bolted away like a shark after prey. Ophelia rode away behind her, her horse's hooves breaking the cake ground as she went. If they had waited any longer, it would have been too long. The _Prometheus_ hit the ground behind them, sending them both flying in the shock wave. Ophelia fell off her horse and crashed through a small outcropping of peanut brittle. Charlotte left a long trail in the ground where she landed, sending cake into the air for nearly five hundred meters.

Ophelia pulled herself up and looked over the crashed ship. "Gee... I hope they're okay." She spotted something moving. A lot of somethings. Small black shapes in the distance running on all fours toward the crashed ship. "Charlotte! We've got trouble!"

Charlotte pulled herself out of the cake and shook the crumbs out of her eyes. "Trouble? What kind of trouble?" She saw the aliens as well. "Oh cripes."

They exchanged only a quick glance before both charging.

* * *

Sayaka shot back up to her feet, her eyes darting around. The hull of the ship was cracked and broken, light from outside streaming in. The others in her group were pulling themselves up at various different speeds. She let out her breath when she concluded that they were all fine. Fukawa was still limping, but she'd been hurt before the crash. Rory and Nakashima seemed a little bruised, upset, and dirty, but were otherwise fine.

Sayaka shouldered her pilfered rifle. "See, now that's how you kick some serious alien ass."

Another of the black aliens appeared through a hole in the hull, reaching down a long claw and grabbing at Fukawa. Its hand wrapped around her head and it hauled her into the air, but before Sayaka could even ready her rifle to fire, a giant red spear smashed the beast apart. Fukawa fell back into the corridor and frantically wiped the remaining slime off her face.

A spattering of the alien's blood began to drip down from above, corroding through the hull and eating away at the steel. It hit the deck below them and kept going. Fukawa dashed away from the acidic blood, taking shelter behind Sayaka. Rory and Nakashima were trapped on the other side of the acid. Sayaka looked up to see the giant form of Ophelia.

"Kyoko..."

Ophelia waved briefly, then turned and batted away another alien. She looked back down at Sayaka. "Get them out of here. There's a whole army of those things heading your way and I can't get through the hull in time to stop them. They're inside the ship!"

Sayaka looked back down at Rory and Nakashima as Ophelia turned back to face more of the monsters outside. "Come on! We have to go! Now!" Rory covered his head and ran under the dripping acid, miraculously making it through without a scratch. Sayaka looked to Nakashima. "Hurry! There are more of those things coming!"

Nakashima had just about gathered up the necessary courage to run through the dripping acid when an arc of electricity flared behind her, illuminating the dark corridor to her back. Sayaka, Rory, and Fukawa saw what was virtually a wall of the monsters squirming and writhing right behind her. They overtook Nakashima in an instant, tearing her apart before their eyes and continuing their charge as if she wasn't even there.

"RUN!"

The three of them turned and ran full speed. Reaching a corner, Sayaka stopped and let the others go on without her. She turned and raised her rifle, emptying the entire clip into the horde approaching. For every one that she killed, another crawled right past it and took its place. She pulled the clip out and replaced it, emptying that one as well. The black mass kept coming unabated. Sayaka dropped the gun and stood.

"Alright, you alien assholes! In the words of my generation: fuck you!"

The next second, the mass of black aliens met the full force of the harder-than-steel armor of Oktavia von Seckendorff.

* * *

Hitomi opened her eyes, coughing out some black dust. She looked around her at the dark room. The walls were crushed and warped, the equipment of the sick bay scattered about and broken. She was surprised she had survived. She saw holes in the hull leading out to the corridor and to other parts of the ship. Half the deck was also missing.

Captain Douglas sat up, finding himself pinned against the wall by the unconscious Osakawa. He shoved the other man off of him and stood up. Glancing around, Hitomi caught his eye. "You alright?"

Hitomi sat up and groaned. "In pain, but alright."

The door to the sick bay fell in, and Madoka stepped through. "How's everyone doing? I need a towel."

Douglas shook his head. "I can't find Mami." He pointed at the hole in the deck. "I think she might have fallen down there."

Homura wobbled in behind Madoka. "Down there? That's the cargo bay, isn't it?"

Douglas nodded. "Let's go."

There was a wet cracking sound from the corner of the room. Silently, all four of them turned to look at Osakawa. He was still unconscious, laying in the corner. Another crack came from him, with no sign of what it was. After a third crack, his chest started moving. It wasn't moving like breathing, but bulging out in the center. After a fourth crack, the middle of his chest began to turn red with blood.

Homura covered her face with her hands. "Oh my God! What's happening to him?!"

Osakawa's chest burst open and a small pale alien's head poked out, wasting no time in screeching at them. Homura screamed. Madoka and Hitomi ducked out of the room, grabbing Homura and pulling her along. Douglas took one glance at the hole in the deck that led down to the cargo bay. He reached out and grabbed the bed, no longer in the center of the room, and lifted it over his head before bringing it crashing down on top of Osakawa and the alien spawn, crushing them both.

Douglas turned to the door. "Its dead! Come on!"

Madoka peered back into the sick bay. "Oh. I coulda done that."

"Let's go!" He jumped down into the cargo bay.

Madoka looked to Hitomi and Homura. "Cargo bay."

The three of them crowded around the hole in the deck and climbed down as best they could before being forced to drop the rest of the way. Douglas was way ahead of them. The entire cargo bay had broken in half, and the deck beneath the sick bay was on an angle. Douglas was at the bottom, pulling apart pieces of debris and throwing them aside. Hitomi sat down and watched as Madoka slid down the angled deck and started to help him.

Homura looked over at Hitomi. "You're not helping?"

"My leg... I think I'd just get in the way right now." She looked back. "What about you? Aren't you going to help?"

The were interrupted by Madoka calling out. "I found her! Mami!"

Douglas jumped on her, pulling bent pieces of metal off of the pile. "Mami! Mami, are you alright?"

The two of them had to work together to move the last piece out of the way, and almost dropped it back on top of her when they saw what was under it. Mami coughed harshly, unable to move her hand to her mouth as it was trapped under a large crate. There was blood coming from under the crate, leaving no doubt that it had crushed her arm. Worse, there were several thick cables sticking straight up out of her, having gone right through her body. Blood leaked out of her mouth as she wheezed again. At the other end of the cargo bay, Fukawa and Rory ran out of a corridor. They slowed down when they spotted Homura and Hitomi, and stopped dead when they saw the rest.

Mami felt Douglas' hand wrap around her own. She smiled. "I was... waiting for you... to come."

Madoka backed away. She felt like this was their moment, and she shouldn't get in the way.

Douglas gripped Mami's hand tightly. "You just hold on now. We'll get you out of this and fix you up. You're going to make it."

Mami shook her head. It was barely visible, but he could tell. "Don't worry... Ty... I know I'm going to be... okay." She gasped. "It hurts a lot."

"We'll get you out of there, Mami. You'll be fine."

"No, see... look at my side... see that piece?"

He looked down to see one of the cables sticking out of her side, just above her hip. "I see it. Mami, I-"

"It went in my back... and I guess it got bent... it's... practically wrapped around my spine. You're not getting me out."

"No. No, we'll find a way. We'll get it out. You'll be fine. You'll see. You'll see."

"Listen... when I go... I won't be able to tell you... what I want to say... so let me say it now."

"...okay."

Struggling, she lifted her hand up to reach his face. "I missed you so much."

"I missed you too."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

"I'll miss you when we go."

"I'll miss you too."

She gave a short laugh. "You... do you know... what you said to me... the last time we parted ways?"

"No." He shook his head. "No I don't. What did I say."

"You said... we will meet again."

"That's exactly what you said before you left."

"It's... a miracle... that we found each other again in... in all this empty space. I can't imagine... we'd be so fortunate... that it would happen... again..."

He squeezed her hand. "It was good to see you again."

"At least this time... I get to... say... good... bye..." Mami closed her eyes. "I'll... always... love... you..."

Just as she went completely still, a cool breeze blew around them. Douglas, Madoka, and the others looked up to see the shining form of Candeloro floating over them. Madoka knew the others wouldn't recognize it, but she could tell that Candeloro's form had changed. The sorrows of the Witch were alleviated. The darkness was gone, leaving behind only the shimmering blue dress and the yellow frills and ribbons. The radiant light that washed over them was warm and purifying.

Candeloro moved over their heads, floating towards the far side of the cargo bay just as a swarm of the alien monsters crawled out of the corridors on either side of them. Her ribbons snaked gracefully through the air and pierced the aliens straight through, turning them all to light which quickly dissipated. The ribbons moved on, sliding through the cracks in the cargo bay bulkheads and pulling them apart, opening up an escape for the survivors.

Out beyond the hull of the ship, Madoka could see three more huge forms waiting for them. Her friends were ready to leave.


	10. Dread Songs and Those Who Sing Them

Homura and Hitomi stood outside the crash of the _Prometheus_. Madoka was not far off, speaking to the four giant Witches. Captain Douglas was helping his brother and Fukawa out of the crash. Just as Fukawa was out, and the three of them were joining the rest of the group, Madoka returned from among the Witches.

"We can't really send you home, because you wouldn't arrive any sooner than several billion years. We can't just leave you here either, because this planet's atmosphere isn't the safest. You would die a slow and very jittery death. What I can do, though, is put you in stasis where you would be frozen until the stasis capsule makes physical contact with something that matches... whatever parameters I want it to. We could make it Human, if that would be best."

Douglas nodded. "If that's the best you can give us, we'll take it."

"Okay." Madoka's gaze dropped to the ground. "Well... we can't stay here much longer. The presence of those three in that state is more damaging than the air here. Candeloro... Mami seems to be fine, though. Once I change into that state, we'll have to leave right away or the planet will be destroyed. It's going to happen really soon, so I don't have time for long goodbyes. Hitomi?"

Her childhood friend shuffled her feet casually. "It was... nice to know that you'll always be out there, Madoka."

Madoka let out a sad sigh. "I'm sorry. For everything that happened. I'm sorry about Kyosuke." She looked to Captain Douglas. "More for Mami than for me, but it was nice to see you again." She just nodded to Rory, who nodded back, and moved on to Fukawa. "I've never met you or even seen you before, but I'll remember you."

Fukawa shrugged. "Well, I don't suppose I can ask for more than to be remembered... what was it, for eternity?"

Madoka gave a somber laugh, and turned to Homura. "Now, I don't remember you either, but you feel so familiar. I think I understand why, too. Kyoko told me that it was your voice I heard coming from deep space. You, or some other version of you, called to me, and it's that voice I've been following out here. You are our objective Homura. You're more important than we know."

Homura lowered her head, sadly turning her gaze to the ground. "I didn't dream those horrible things. My friends really did die, and I'm the only one left. And now you're going to go away again. How am I supposed to live with this?"

Madoka put her hand on Homura's shoulder. "You've been alone a long time, Homura. But you're not alone anymore. Hitomi will be there with you. And Tyrone and Rory and Fukawa. You're not alone."

"Madoka... please... if I can't go with you, then there's no point." Homura took a deep breath, and Madoka could tell she wasn't going to like what came next. "Don't put me to sleep again. I want to stay awake. If I can't be with you ever again, then let me watch you go. I'll accept whatever end this planet can give me, but don't make me sleep so long again."

Madoka couldn't find any words to say. She let out a long sigh, but made no move to force her hand. Homura watched quietly as Madoka formed the static blue fields that wrapped around the others, placing them in perfect stasis. She turned to face Homura one last time before leaving. After a minute of silence, she just nodded and started walking back to the others. Homura could hear a tune that someone was humming. She naturally assumed it was Madoka, as no one else was around to do something like that. Watching Madoka leave like this hurt, though. Tears started to well up in her eyes as Madoka's body dissolved into tendrils of shadow that quickly wrapped around the three Witches and whatever Mami had become.

The tendrils came together, binding into a single solid wall and making a large egg-like shape. The black mass that was Homura's dearest friend lifted off the ground and floated up into the sky. She reached up and waved farewell to Madoka until the small black dot in the sky vanished. Crying, she dropped to her knees and clutched at her heart. There was a pain in her chest like she'd never felt before. She wasn't alone.

* * *

Madoka opened her eyes. Something was wrong. She was supposed to be flying through space as Kriemhild Gretchen right now, not lying on her back as Madoka Kaname and in serious pain. She rolled over and shoved herself up onto her feet. The ground was scorched and burnt, and she was in the center of a crater, like she'd hit like a meteor. Around her, Kyoko, Sayaka, and Mami struggled to stand as well. Nagisa shoved her way out of the ground where she'd evidently been buried.

The young white-haired woman spat out some dirt. "Blech. Overcooked chocolate cake."

Sayaka stomped the ground. "We're back on this miserable planet?! What happened?!"

Madoka tried to take a step, but the ground cracked and crumbled under her. She pointed to Kyoko, who was nearest the edge of the crater. "Go find Homura! Make sure she wasn't hit!"

Kyoko clambered up to the edge of the crater and looked out. "Oh." She turned back to the others. "It's... not good. We didn't hit her, but... she's already dead. One of those things... one of them was still inside her, and..."

Madoka hauled herself out of the crumbling ground, pulling herself along in desperation. "No! No, Homura! Not after everything we just went through! No!"

Mami grabbed Madoka and held her back. "Madoka, stop this! We have more important things to worry about!"

"You don't understand!" Madoka tried in vain to push Mami away. In spite of her attempts, Mami was physically the stronger of the two. "You don't understand! Any of you! Homura's the whole reason for all of this! It was her voice!" Madoka had started crying, shouting at them through her tears. "I heard her voice and that's why we're out here in the first place! There is nothing more important! She's the reason for everything!"

"Oh... shit." Sayaka pointed up at the sky. "I think Mami's right this time."

Madoka finally broke free. Slowly, she followed Sayaka's finger. Directly above them, hovering in the sky, was a massive sphere. Whatever it was, it was in orbit, it was bigger than all of them, and it hadn't been there before. Someone was humming a low tune.

There, above them, Ghroth opened his eye and stared down at them. The entire planet was cast in the red glow of his eye. The voice shook the planet to its core. **Come to me, Witch. Awake and be destroyed.**

Madoka stood in defiance of the colossal foe. "Now you've done it, you giant floating gonad! You want me? Here I come!" Kriemhild Gretchen launched into space, aiming to collide with the Nemesis Moon.

The others followed right behind her, though less than enthusiastic.

Ophelia darted left and right, trying to size up their foe. "That's no moon! Look at the size of that thing!"

Oktavia chastised her. "Don't be a nerd."

Kriemhild streaked past between them, drawing Ghroth's gaze away from the planet. It was a wise move. His eye began to glow brighter and suddenly erupted, shooting off a beam of energy that rivaled a solar flare in sheer force. The blast that would have cracked the planet open instead struck Kriemhild dead on, sending her spiraling out into space. Taking the opportunity, Charlotte latched onto the top of Ghroth's mass with her mouth and began chewing her way through. The fiend was not made of rock, but rather something infinitely more vile, but much easier to chomp.

Candeloro emitted a bright white glow and flew past in front of Ghroth. He took the bait, following her farther away from the planet. He had started screeching repeatedly, but his one-eyed expression hadn't changed. Oktavia and Ophelia landed on either side of the giant eye, where they could feel the heat coming off of it, and stabbed their respective weapons into the softer tissues of the eye. When Ghroth tried to shut his eye, to protect it from further damage, they both grabbed the stone eyelids and held them open. Candeloro darted away. Behind her light, Kriemhild had been all but invisible, and was now charging at near light speed. She struck her foe head on, a bullseye, spearing him and breaking out the other side. Charlotte wormed her way out the bottom. Out of all four holes, Kriemhild and Charlotte's entry and exit wounds, molten plasma like from the surface of a star poured out into the black.

The plasma changed shape, revealing the true nature of Ghroth's form. Pure, bright orange, infernal energy. Three long clawed arms and one toothy maw, all formed from the same plasma. The moon shell cracked and began disintegrating. Ophelia flew away, trying to get out of reach, and one of the arms shot after her. Oktavia intercepted the arm and slashed the clawed hand apart with her sword. A second arm swiped after her, but she spun to the side and severed it as well. Pulling a u-turn, Ophelia hoisted her spear and launched it like a javelin. Ophelia's spear shattered the moon shell, and what was left of the rock melted into the core, Ghroth's true being.

Fangs of fire snapped after Charlotte, and Ghroth chased her farther from the planet. Charlotte led the fiend straight for the nearest star. Kriemhild's dark tendrils wrapped around Ghroth from behind and pulled him back. She was gaining strength as the battle went on, growing in size and power, feeding off of all Ghroth's endless rage. She hauled him back and spun around, slinging him straight at the star. He hit the surface with a splash, sending solar matter in all directions and warping the shape of the celestial body itself. He shoved off the surface and charged back at Kriemhild. Arms of plasma and tendrils of shadow clashed, and Kriemhild found herself staring into Ghroth's burning red eye. She caught his arms and kept the claws from snatching at her, but the jaws slipped through and tore a chunk out of her.

Candeloro rammed into the jaws, tearing the entire limb off and taking it with her. In retaliation, Ghroth's eye erupted again, blasting Kriemhild away from him. Oktavia landed on his back, driving her sword into the top of his being. Ophelia dug her spear into his side, plunging it in as deep as she could. Ghroth grabbed the both of them and flung them away, then retreated to the star. Kriemhild charged after him, but Candeloro moved to block her path.

"That sun is more powerful than any of us. We can use it to destroy him."

Kriemhild fell back. "I'm the only one who can hope to match his power. What do you suggest?"

Candeloro glowed brightly. "You're right about that. In fact, I think you're somewhat larger than him. So I'll be your support. You drive him into it."

The others were mounting another attack, distracting Ghroth. He dug his claws into the surface of the star, scooping out clumps of stellar matter and hurling them at his enemies. One of the balls of flame struck Oktavia, sending her reeling into the black. A small splash of fire from the impact hit Charlotte, causing her to dart away for the safety of the planet. Ophelia took the next shot head on and shot straight through it, only to be swatted away by one of Ghroth's limbs.

Kriemhild wrapped Candeloro in her substance, enveloping her whole, and charged. She put all her strength and mass behind the attack, shrugging off the blasts of solar matter that struck her, and hitting Ghroth, grappling with him. She plunged them both into the star, below the surface, where both their beings were burned away and destroyed by the solar might. Inside Kriemhild Gretchen, Candeloro struggled to keep up, healing Kriemhild as much as she could and as fast as she could. They wouldn't be able to last long this way, but perhaps longer than Ghroth.

Charlotte and Ophelia floated motionlessly. Oktavia had tanked the blast hurled at her by Ghroth and pulled her friends back to her. Ophelia was unconscious, but still living. Oktavia and Charlotte's gaze was on the surface of the star, watching and waiting to see if Kriemhild and Candeloro would return. The star grew dark, shrinking and dying. Suddenly, the surface broke apart, and Kriemhild Gretchen pushed her way out into space. She released Candeloro from her mass, and the two returned to their friends.

The eternal legends tell of the Grave Star, the final resting place of the Nemesis Moon Ghroth.


End file.
